From Ho Chi Minh City, more than 1 hour drive, the places of Long An, Tien Giang passed by one after another and then the Rach Mieu bridge appeared from the Tien Giang and Ben Tre banks right in front of me. Welcoming me were the continuous images of shops displaying specialties of this land such as coconut cakes, coconut candy, pressed bananas, fried bananas with coconut, Son Doc rice paper, shrimps and all kinds of other gifts made from coconut.
Why is the land called Tre but planted with coconut trees? Quang - a tour guide with more than 20 years of experience in the profession - tells an anecdote: Long ago, this land was formed mainly by 3 large islands: Minh Island, Bao Island and An Hoa Island, the islands thanks to the fertile alluvium of the Mekong River that created this land. This land is located close to the sea, so the alluvium is blown by the wind into high, undulating mounds that look like waves of earth. Because it is sandwiched between the river and the sea, the mounds are also imbued with the salty taste of minerals and the "rich" taste of muddy alluvium, so the soil here is extremely fertile, and any fruit grown is delicious. It is said that on his way from Guangdong to escape the Qing Dynasty to the South, a Ming Dynasty general named Duong Ngan Dich, when passing through Binh Dinh in the Central region, knew that coconut trees had high nutritional benefits and were a rare source of sweet water. He loaded his ships with coconuts as a source of water and food reserves. He was approved by Lord Hien to settle in the land of the Thuy Chan Lap natives in Kompong Ruusei, an ancient Khmer word meaning Soc Tre, later called Ben Tre by the Vietnamese. He planted coconut trees on this land. Gradually, coconut trees spread and became a typical tree of Soc Tre!
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Arriving at Phu Chanh village, we strolled to visit a brick kiln that is estimated to be over a century old, quietly located on the banks of a cool river. According to the locals, brick making is traditionally a job for men, but here, women make up more than 70% of the workforce. All day long, the women have to work hard in the sun, rain, smoke and dust for a meager salary. The sweetness of the coconut in my hand suddenly became bitter when I heard the touching story about the women of the coconut land.
We continued on a small wooden boat. One by one, the boat drifted and took us into the cool, green canals with dense coconut palms like arms welcoming guests from afar, the wind blowing on the river surface made everyone feel poetic. Going deep into the river mouth, the peaceful scenery appeared as beautiful as a painting with the green of coconut palms and a few shady mangrove trees, all bending in the wind as if showing off to the earth and sky. The peaceful scenery blended together to create a fresh, cool space.
| The boat drifted and took us into the cool, green canals with dense water coconut trees like arms welcoming visitors from afar, the wind blowing on the river surface. Going deeper inside, the peaceful scenery appeared as beautiful as a picture with the green of water coconut trees interspersed with a few shady mangrove trees, all bending in the wind as if showing off to the earth and sky. |
Showing me the tools that Ben Tre people use to catch fish, Quang said that the locals look at the shape of the tools and call them by different names such as: bottom setting, trap making, net setting, 12 prison doors, net traps, fishing boats... During the high tide (around the 15th or 30th day of the lunar calendar), when the tide is low, along these canals you will see people weaving through the rows of water coconut trees along the river,
canal to catch coconut goby for shelter. I don’t know if the goby eats coconut or not, but I assure you, Ben Tre’s braised coconut goby with pepper is delicious, you’ll remember it forever after just one bite.
The boat stopped to visit a coconut processing facility. After getting acquainted with the host family, we were all amazed to see the workers peeling coconuts, breaking them to get the water, and prying the coconut meat out quickly without stopping. It was truly impressive to know that each worker peeled up to 1,800 coconuts a day. After struggling to learn how to peel coconuts, everyone gave up because no one could separate the fiber from the fruit. It is true that practice makes perfect!
Continuing our journey, the boat took us to Nhon Thanh market. Saying goodbye to the boatman with a sincere smile, we walked to visit the famous mat weaving village in Ben Tre. Tuong - the group leader - invited everyone to get on the strange-looking rickshaw. The whole group of rickshaws took us through shady village roads, the shadows of fruit orchards, rice fields, gardens, and vegetable plots passed by one after another. After more than half an hour of cruising, we stopped to continue our journey on the river, but this time we started on a majestic wooden boat called Le Jarai.
Looking at the 4-star wooden boat, Tuong thoughtfully recounted that 16 years ago, when surveying the lower Mekong River, tourism investors realized that the vast lower Mekong River with its garden civilization would be a unique highlight for tourists from all continents to explore the Southwest countryside. Therefore, a pair of wooden boats shaped like a gourd boat, fully equipped and safe, were born in Ben Tre. This "couple of lovebirds" with the hope of being giant gourd ducks swimming slowly carrying tourists on the majestic river, but in the end, they had to part ways because one had to return to Can Tho and the other had to drift to Chau Doc. And now, after nearly 16 years of wandering, the Le Jarai boat has returned to its old place.
| Le Jarai is like a giant duck swimming slowly, carrying tourists on the majestic Hau River. |
Slowly, the boat drifted on the river, the cool breeze blew, the rows of green mangrove trees gradually passed us. At this time, the staff had just served a delicious meal on the table. The meal was delicious with rustic garden dishes such as grapefruit salad, spring rolls, sour soup with braised fish and a glass of sweet orange juice.
After more than 2 hours of drifting, the boat smoothly drifted through the long river and gradually reached the dock. The moments of fun on the Mekong River also came to an end. Saying goodbye to the Le Jarai waitresses with their charming smiles. A moment of bewilderment suddenly settled in my mind when I left behind the image of the hair - the deep green coconut trees brushing against the river heavy with silt.
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More information:
+ Currently, Ben Tre river tourism with "Le Jarai tour" is exclusively designed by Buffalo travel company. The tour costs about 2,600,000 VND/person
+ Traveling to Ben Tre, you can buy coconut products such as coconut candy, coconut jam and coconut cake which are very delicious and unique.
+ If you want to travel on your own, you can go by motorbike or private car. The price of accommodation is about 300,000 VND/room for two people.
